Local man develops mobile mattress cleaning business

Local
resident Michael Ingle came up with what could be the next best thing.

The idea
for his new business, a mattress cleaning company, came at some point at 3 a.m.

“I don’t
really know how it began,” Ingle said. “I enjoy problem-solving, so I
identified a problem and wanted to create a solution.”

Before
launching Mattress Cleaners Inc., Ingle did his research. He spent the past two
years working on his prototype by contacting different firms that developed the
equipment he was looking for and also working on the design.

“It was
like trial and error, until I got it right,” he said.

His
3,500-square-foot warehouse in north Denton is filled with tools and supplies,
as well as frames he needs to create what he calls a “clean sleep machine.” The
end result is a business that stays mobile by using a 16-foot truck filled with
technology dedicated to removing dust mites, dead skin and bedbugs from
mattresses.

“This is
something that could impact everybody on a global level,” Ingle said. “In a
way, I wanted to create the perfect business model, where your target market is
everybody and your competition is nobody.”

Rags
to riches

When Ingle
was developing his idea, he also consulted one of his longtime teachers from
Denton High School, Laurence McClendon, who teaches architecture, construction,
engineering and technology.

“He
talked to me about this mattress cleaning concept and I helped him with some of
the design problems,” McClendon said.

McClendon,
who has known Ingle for about 13 years, said Ingle is one of his success
stories.

“He came from a broken home and he has done everything on his own. He
has also learned from his failures,” McClendon said. “I have been teaching for
21 years. I have about five kids that really stand out, and Michael is one of
them.”

Ingle was
part of Denton High’s robotic team that won first prize at the state level in
2000, the year he graduated. He was also president of the engineering and
technology club during his junior and senior years at Denton High.

“I was
part of the geeks,” he said.

He also
worked as an engineering intern at Boeing Co. and created a prototype for
Raytheon during his early career years. In addition to owning Mattress
Cleaners, he also owns Quick Set Concrete Inc., a general construction company.

The
case for nanotechnology

Nanotechnology,
according to Ingle, helps eradicate fungi, bacteria, algae, staph and other
types of organisms.

In Environmental
Science: Processes & Impacts, a study published last fall by the Royal
Society of Chemistry in London, authors concluded that nanomaterials “do
clearly display promise as antibiotic agents effective even against MDR
[multiple drug resistant] organisms,” they said. However, the authors cautioned
that further research was needed, since the potential exists for increased drug
resistance.

Part of
his challenge, Ingle said, is continuing to educate people on the benefits of
what his business has to offer. In his research, he has found that the average
mattress contains more than 100,000 dust mites, and bedbugs can live in a
mattress up to six months without feeding, according to a company brochure.

“It is
for a good cause — we improve air quality and wellness,” Ingle said.

Helping
others see a need

Ingle
said people’s awareness to become healthier has changed in the past 10 years.

“Think
about the hand sanitizer — 10 years ago no one cared about it. Everybody lived
their lives without it,” he said. “Now they created a product and people feel
they need it and they also know more about why they need it.”

Based on
their living style, Ingle said, people should have their home mattresses
cleaned every six months to a year. For commercial purposes, such as at hotels
or hospitals, companies should consider cleaning the mattresses every three
months, he said.

The
mattress cleaning process takes six steps.

A mattress of any size is placed inside what Ingle calls a “Clean Sleep
Machine” — a truck that has equipment to sanitize a mattress using ultraviolet
light, a dry steam process, a vacuum, infrared heat, ozone and antimicrobial
nanotechnology. The entire process takes 15 minutes.

Ingle
might have started his business at the right time.

Last
week, pest control company Terminix released its list of cities experiencing
the largest increases in bedbug activity. The Dallas-Fort Worth area came in at
No. 13, according to the report.

Sacramento,
Calif., took the top spot with a 54 percent jump in customer calls about
bedbugs compared to the same time last year, the company said in a news
statement.

Since
launching his business earlier this month, Ingle has received calls from people
around the state and in California.

He also
received a call from the folks from the ABC show Shark Tank, in which
aspiring entrepreneurs sell their business ideas to a panel of potential
investors.

McClendon
said Ingle declined that offer.

Future
plans

In the
next five years, Ingle hopes his business will reach many people and businesses
where he sees a need for his services, including hotels, senior living
facilities and hospitals. In the meantime, he will continue to work with his
five employees at the warehouse and office to reach out to interested
customers.

One of
his recent corporate customers is the 69-room Comfort Suites at UNT, off
Interstate 35E at McCormick Street.

“Cleaning
our mattresses will create a safer environment for our guests, and it will show
them that we keep our rooms cleaned at all times,” said Kevin Patel, general
manager at the Denton Comfort Suites location. “Not having bedbugs or things of
the sort is a big deal for our traveling customers.”

Patel
added that his hotel decided to use Ingle’s service because no other business
offers anything like it.

While Ingle
continues to work on expanding his clientele, he is already working with eight
people who are interested in franchising Mattress Cleaners. He is also working
on finalizing his second truck.

“We drive
to where they need us,” Ingle said.

KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878
and via Twitter at @KarinaFRamirez.

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